Couple’s 250-Pound Pet Pig Hams It Up for the Camera in Their Engagement Photos
“I think Ziggy will be the ring bearer/flower boy,” said the bride-to-be.
— -- One couple’s pet pig has been hamming it up for the camera ever since he was a baby, and is still continuing to steal the show even in their engagement photos.
When Kristin Hartness originally bought Ziggy, her pet pig, she was told he would stay small forever.
“Ziggy was supposed to be a teacup pig. The lady I bought him from promised me he’d only be 20 to 25 pounds,” Hartness, 30, told ABC News of her beloved pet. “I’ve always loved to travel so I was like, ‘That’s perfect! Of course I want a pig.’”
The two were living on the Caribbean island of St. John, having the time of their lives. But Ziggy kept growing.
“Ziggy the Piggy” is now 250 pounds, and the love of Kristin and her fiancé Jay Yontz’s life.
When it was time to make the move back to the United States, the couple had little to no options for bringing Ziggy back with them. They ultimately had to charter a private plane for $15,000, spending every last dime of their savings to fly with their pig to Sarasota, Florida.
“We worked and worked and worked and saved,” Hartness said of how they came up with the money. “I had like four jobs at one time. I worked about 80 hours a week.”
Once they landed back in states, the big, happy family bought a motor home and is now traveling the country, working and volunteering on animal sanctuaries. They're chronicling their journey on Ziggy's Facebook page, Ziggy the Traveling Piggy.
When Yontz dressed up as Santa to propose in December, Ziggy was there, of course.
Ziggy tagged along for the couple’s engagement photos in March too.
He was there every step of the way, hiking their favorite trail along the Jordan River Parkway in Utah.
The happy family is planning a wedding for the spring.
“My dream would be to get married on the farm we’re going to buy,” Hartness said of the future animal sanctuary they’re hoping to own back in North Carolina, where she’s originally from.
Ziggy will be the ring bearer. The lovebirds wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I think Ziggy will be the ring bearer/flower boy,” said the bride-to-be. “I can just imagine somebody making a trail of Cheerios, and he has flowers balanced on his back and they fall off as he walks down the aisle try to eat each piece.”